Curtain rod bracket



NOV. 9, 1954 B,y T GARDNER 2,693,927

CURTAIN ROD BRACKET Filed sept. 5, 19952 v INVENTOR.

United States Patent CURTAIN ROD BRACKET Byron T. Gardner, Ridgewood, N.J.

Application September 5, 1952, Serial No. 308,035

6 Claims. (Cl. 248-263) This invention relates to improvements inbrackets or hangers for supporting curtain rods, drapery rods .and thelike on window frames, door frames, walls and simllar elements ofbuilding structures. More particularly, the invention relates tobrackets of the type having a projecting hook or prong adapted to bereceived 1n an opening or hole in the end of a metal or wood curtain rodto support the latter in spaced relatlon to a window frame or otherelement of a building structure.

The curtain rod and drapery rod brackets commonly available are providedwith a base ange to be secured against the wall or window frame and havea proJecting hook, prong or collar to engage the end of a solid orhollow curtain rod and support it in proper relation to a window or thelike. The hangers or brackets are usually secured to the buildingstructure by means of nails or screws which are inserted throughopenings 1n the base plate of the bracket. Hangers or brackets of thetype described generally above, have, as a general rule, one veryundesirable feature. The holes in the base plate of the hanger areusually close-to the hook or prong in order to keep the size of thehanger or bracket small. Because of this arrangement of the holes it isdifficult to insert a nail through the hole and hold it in position tobe driven into the building structure with a hammer without striking thefingers. After the nail has been started into the hole, it is verydiicult to drive the nail into the building structure without alsostriking and flattening the hook or prong on the bracket which, ofcourse, thereafter must be straightened before the curtain rod can beapplied to it. It is equally difficult to attach the bracket by means ofscrews because this usually necessitates forming of a starting hole inthe building structure and driving the screw with a screw driver or thelike, while standing on a step ladder or in some other inconvenient andusually uncomfortable position.

The present invention overcomes the above-noted disadvantages of theprior types of brackets by providing a bracket which has an anvil orstriking member thereon which extends outwardly beyond the hook or prongwhich supports the curtain rod. The bracket also carries two or morespikes or points which may be driven into the building structure bystriking the anvil or impact member so that the bracket can beconveniently held with the fingers out of the range of the hammer head.The provision of the anvil or striking surface extending outwardlybeyond the hook or prong enables the bracket to be driven tightlyagainst the wall without in any way damaging or distorting the hook orother curtain rodsupporting element thereon.

For a better understanding of the present invention, relflernce may behad to the accompanying drawing in w 1c Fig. 1 is a view in perspectiveof a blank from which braicket embodying the present invention may beprouce Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the bracket produced from theblank shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an exploded and perspective view of a modified form of bracketembodying the present invention; 4 is a view in section taken on line4-4 of Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a blank from which the bracketdisclosed in Fig. 3 is made; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of still another form of bracket embodyingthe present invention.

2,693,927 Patented Nov. 9, 1954 It is recognized in the art that curtainrod brackets may be provided with various types of hooks, prongs,collars and the like, for engagement in holes in the ends of a curtainrod or for engagement in telescopic relation in the ends of said curtainrods. The present invention will be described with reference to severaldifferent types of hooks and collars but it will beunderstood that thenew brackets may be provided with any of the usual types of supportingelements for the curtain rods.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, one form of bracket mayconsist of a sheet metal member 10 having a base plate 11 of rectangularor generally square form or, for that matter, any other desired form,depending upon the ornamental effect desired. At one edge of the basemember 11 is a collar 12 having a resilient tongue 13 therein forengaging in the end of a hollow curtain rod. The collar 12 is ofconventional type. At the opposite end of the base plate is a flange 14which forms an anvil or striking member. Theange 14 consists of twolayers of the metal, the outermost layer 14a being bent at an angle ofabout 90 to the base memberand the innermost layer 15 being bent towardthe base plate 11 and engaging it to render the iiange 14 suicientlyrigid to enable it to be struck at its outer edge 16 with a hammerwithout deforming or bending the ilange. The base plate also has a pairof spikes 17 and 18 extending in the opposite direction from the flange14 and closely adjacent thereto. The bracket shown in Fig. 2 may beformed from the blank disclosed in Fig. l which consists of a generallyrectangular body portion 19 which includes a section corresponding tothe base flange 11 and the outer and inner layers 14a and 15 of theupstanding anvil or bracket flange 14. The left-hand end of the blank 19has a T-shaped head portion 20 which can have its outer ends bentinwardly to form the collar 12. The tongue 13 is formed at about themid-portion of the head portion 20. The spikes 17 and 18 extendoutwardly from the corners of the base portion 11 of the blank 19 and,as described above, when bent at a right angle to the blank 19, extendin the opposite direction from the anvil or striking ilange 14.

The height of the flange 14 from the base plate 11 exceeds the height ofthe collar 12 so that the spikes 17 and 18 can be driven into thebuilding structure by striking the outer end of the flange withoutstriking and deforming the collar 12.

While the bracket 10 has been illustrated as having the collar 12thereon, it will be understood that the collar 12 can be replaced with ahook integral with the base iiange or with a rod-like prong of generallyhook shape which may be secured to the base flange 11 in any desiredway. It will be understood also, that the bracket may be provided with apair of collars or hooks to support a pair of curtain rods, if desired,and that brackets such as that shown in Fig. 2 can be made 1n rlght andleft-hand types for engagement with opposite ends of the curtain rod.

Brackets embodying the general principles set forth above, aresusceptible to considerable modification. Thus, for example, as shown inFigs. 3, 4 and 5, the bracket may be secured in position by means of astaple 25 Whlch is suitably mounted on the bracket 26 to form a .part ofthe striking or anvil member and also the spikes or prongs to be driveninto the building structure. The bracket disclosed in Fig. 3 may be madefrom a blank of metal 27 such as that shown in Fig.. 5. The blank 27includes a rectangular body portion 28 whlch, as illustrated, is dividedinto ve panels 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33. The panels 30 and 32 are providedwith two pairs of slits 34 and 35. The narrow necks of metal between thepairs of slits can be bent out of the plane of the panels 30 and 32 toform loops 36 and 37. The panels 30 and 32 are bent at right angles tothe interposed panel 31 and the panels 29 and 33 are bent at rightangles to the panels 30 and 32, respectively, to make them substantiallyparallel with the panel 31, as shown in Fig. 3.

The outer ends of the panels 29 and 33 are provided with T-shapedextensions 38 and 39 which are bent to form the collars to engage in theends of a pair of curtain rods. The height of the panels 30 and 32 isgreater than the height of the collars 38 and 39 so that thechannel-shaped structure provided by the panels 30, 31 and 32 extendsoutwardly from the base flanges 29 and 33 to form, in part, an anvil orstriking surface. The panel 31 has a pair of holes 40 and 41 therein toreceive the legs of the staple 25. The staple thus extends through theholes 40. and 41 and through the loops 36, 36 and 37, 37, where it isretained by fricttion. The base 25a of the staple is exposed in front ofthe panel 31 that it may be struck with a hammer or the like. to drivethe legs of the staple into the building structure. The base. 25a of thestaple when driven into the building structure engages the panel 31 tohold the bracket tightly against the building structure. The engagementof the staple in the holes 40, 41 and the loops 36, 36 and 37, 37prevents the bracket from spreading and retains it securely in position.

lt will be understood that .the bracket shown in Figs. 3 to 5 can bemodiiied, for example, by omitting one portion of the. base ange, forexample the panel 33 and the collar 39 thereon if a single bracket is tobe provided and the collars 3S and 39 may be replaced by hooks, prongsor the like, as the purpose demands.

A further modiiication of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 6. Thisform of bracket includes a base plate 4S of rectangular, square orlother suitable shape. The base plate 45 has a hook 46 formed at one edgethereo. Spaced from the hook 46 are 'a pair of openings 457 and 48 toreceive the legs 49 and S0 of a ilat metal staple 51. As shown, the legsof the staple are formed with shoulders 52 and 53 about mid-Way of theirlength so that these shoulders bear against the front of the base plate45'. The staple may be secured to the base plate by welding, brazing or,if desired, by making the openings 47 and 48 of slightly smaller sizethan the legs of the staples and securing the staple with a drive t. Thebase of the staple, as illustrated in Fig. 6, extends outwardly beyondthe hook 46 so that the staple can be driven by means of a hammer or thelike, without danger of striking or detorming the hook 46. While astaple formed of tlat metal has been disclosed in Fig. 6, it will beunderstood that ordinary wire staples can be used with equal facility byproviding shoulders thereon or by welding or brazing the staple to thebase. This form of the invention likewise may be modied to provide hooksat opposite ends of the base plate 4S for use in supporting a pair ofcurtain rods, if desired.

As indicated above, the invention is 'susceptible to considerablemodification and, therefore, the forms of the invention disclosed hereinshould be considered as illustrative.

i claim.:

l. A bracket for supporting curtain rods and the like comprising a baseplate, a supporting member fixed to and extending substantiallyperpendicular to said base plate to engage and support an end of' acurtain rod, a striking member on said base plate offset to one side ofsaid supporting member and projecting outwardly from said base plate inthe same direction as said supporting member and farther than saidsupporting member, and spikes extending fromsaid base plate away fromsaid striking member and substantially in alignment therewith to bedriven into a support by impact on the striking member.

2. A bracket to support a curtain rod comprising a base plate, asupporting member at one edge of said base plate and extendingsubstantially perpendicular thereto to receive and support an end of acurtain rod, a striking member on said base plate and offset from saidsupporting member, said striking member extending substantiallyperpendicular to said base plate in the same direction as saidsupporting member, said striking member projecting farther from saidbase plate than said supporting member to enable said strikingv memberto be struck without damaging said supporting member, and spikesextending from said base plate substantially in alignment with saidstriking member to be driven into a support by impact on said strikingmem- 3. The bracket set forth in claim 2 in which said striking memberand said spikes are a staple having pointed legs forming the spikes anda connecting back portion forming the striking surface, and said staplehas shoulder portions on its legs about midway of their length forengaging said base plate to hold the latter against said support whenthe pointed ends of said legs are driven into said support.

4. A bracket to support a curtain rod and the like, comprising a baseplate having a folded flange extending substantially perpendicular tothe base plate, a curtain rod supporting member on said base plateoffset to one side of said flange, said supporting member extending inthe same direction as said flange and projecting from said base plate ashorter distance than said flange, and spikes extending from said baseplate in the opposite direction from said ange and substantially inalignment therewith to be driven into a support.

5.. The bracket set forth in claim 4 comprising a staple mounted on saidilange and having pointed ends forming said spike.

6. The bracket set forth in claim 4 in which said flange has an end wallspaced from said base plate and spaced apart side walls having loopsextending into alignment with said apertures, and a staple having a baseportion engaging said end wall and legs extending through said aperturesand loops and outwardly beyond the base plate to be driven into asupport.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l Date

